Keepers feed Rupa bananas and sugarcane as they try to mend her broken heart
after the death of Amrit, her mate of 10 years

Conservationists in India are working around the clock to help a grief-stricken elephant recover from the shock of its long-term partner’s death.

Rupa and Amrit had been inseparable since they were rescued from a circus more than ten years ago, according to conservation staff in Bihar.

They had worked together lifting logs at the Valmikinagar Tiger Project, shared their food, and Rupa remained loyal to him, rejecting rival mates, even after he became increasingly crippled with arthritis.

His illness eventually left him paralysed and he died earlier this week from associated conditions.

Since his initial separation for treatment and later death Rupa has slumped deeper into depression, refusing to eat and resisting attempts by her mahout or rider to persuade her to move.

Officials said her decline reflects the range of elephants’ emotions and their ability to love and grieve.

In recent years Indian elephants have made headlines for a series of violent and fatal attacks on people straying onto their territory, or raids on homes for alcohol and food.

Rupa’s grief however has highlighted their softer side and intense loyalty.

Her mahout, Prabhu Sahni, who is now watching over his charge 24 hours a day, told the Hindustan Times she is now “melancholy personified”.

Santosh Tewari, field director at the Valmikinagar Tiger Project where the two elephants moved from Patna Zoo in 2007, said it was normal for elephants to grieve for a day after the death but Rupa’s continuing sadness reflected their deeper connection.

“She is in an emotional shock after Amrit’s death. She stopped taking food completely and we had to switch on to her favorite foods like sugarcane and bananas. She has partially resumed eating now and the mahout is taking her to the different locations in the park to [help her] emerge out of the emotional shock”, he said.

“Elephants are the most emotional and intelligent animals. They express both sadness and happiness and in some cases may have welling of water in their eyes as a response to the emotion. They explicitly convey their emotions and stopping eating food is one of the signs,"

Dr N Baskaran, professor at AVC college of wildlife in Tamil Nadu, said elephants share many human emotions.

“They show sadness and happiness and are very social . If a mother loses a calf she will be as sad as a human. But since they live in herds, they get over the trauma quickly.

“In natural conditions the male and female elephants stay with each other till the offspring are born and then the female takes care but in this case it seems they had developed a great bond”, he said.